Crossing campaign

By Ed Merrison
TRANSPORTMinister Peter Batchelor has warned drivers they risk death if they attempt to beat level crossing signals.
Mr Batchelor visited Ferntree Gully on Wednesday, 9 November to launch the State Government’s $1 million campaign to promote safety at level crossings. He was joined by Ferntree Gully MP Anne Eckstein
“We are using a combination of initiatives to make level crossings safer and get the message through that people must take care,” Mr Batchelor said.
Ms Eckstein said when people were killed on level crossings a terrible toll was taken on families and the wider community, and also on train drivers.
“We want to reduce this needless waste of life and the suffering it causes across metropolitan Melbourne,” she said.
Referring specifically to the crossing on Alpine Street, Ferntree Gully, Mr Batchelor and Ms Eckstein said the proximity of traffic lights at the Station Street intersection added to the risk.
“When it’s busy, (the traffic) banks up. Drivers need to make sure they don’t get caught on the tracks by stopping behind the line – that’s what the line is there for,” Ms Eckstein said.
Mr Batchelor said motorists needed to understand it took about 200 metres for a suburban train to stop, and even longer for heavier freight trains.
“Through public awareness, we’re trying to remind people that they have to act responsibly at level crossings. If they follow safety signs and safety laws, they’ll always be safe,” he said.
“In the last seven years there have been 22 fatalities caused by vehicles being hit by trains. These were all preventable.”
Mr Batchelor said there was only so much that road safety equipment and laws could do, and that the most effective action would come from drivers acting responsibly.
“Sooner or later risk-taking behaviour will cause a fatality,” he said.
“Most danger comes from the shocking phenomenon of people stopping their cars on the tracks because they misjudge the distance or don’t think a train will come.They get marooned on the tracks with nowhere to go because other cars in front have been stopped by the traffic lights.”
The next phase of the campaign will start early next year, targeting pedestrian safety at level crossings.